Records of the Absent
by manic-silhouette
Summary: A story in the making revolving mainly around the Bleach character Hitsugaya. He meets a surprising new character who helps him along the way in the discovery of a conspiracy.
1. Chapter 1

Captain Hitsugaya stood at the end of the corridor on a brisk spring morning in Soul Society. The breeze coming in through the open window ruffled his spiky white hair as he waited for his lieutenant. Matsumoto was late once again, probably too busy trying on all the "fashionable" outfits she had purchased from her last outing to the Real World. Hitsugaya sighed, leaning back against the wall. A serene silence filled the air, and he immediately wondered what had happened. There was always noise, always. Whether it be Ikkaku battling for sake or a crazy research experiment exploding in the background from what's his face's Research and Development Center.

He cautiously gripped the handle of his zanpaktou and slipped outside. His green eyes surreptitiously scanned his surroundings, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Besides the fact that it was empty; devoid of any soul reapers. He couldn't sense their reiatsu at all. He was all alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the years he had come to realize how seldom he found the time to be alone. Looking back on the days at the Soul Reaper University, Hitsugaya established that the thoughts he had had were utterly incomprehensibly false. _Oh, once I'm a Captain, my life will be complete. No work, just kicking back__, letting__ my subordinates do all the grunt duties. Ha-ha! Can't wait! _ Yeah, right, he told his past self, the one whose childish voice ran through his head now. If anything, he did _more_ work than his subordinates, although with Matsumoto as his lieutenant, it was easy to see why. The only goal she strived for was to look good in a cut strap halter top and try to get away with doing the least amount of actual work as possible. What a _great_ example for the future generation of soul reapers, Matsumoto!

But now, as he stood there, alone in the middle of Seireitei, he actually missed everyone's company. That, and the fact he admitted it to himself, made him feel anxious and worried for the first time since he became a Captain.

"Damn, where is everyone?!" Hitsugaya yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. The sun was high in the sky now, and although the breeze was cool, he had started to sweat and went back inside. Here it was dark, and Hitsugaya's eyes dilated to take in as much light as possible.

"Hello? Konnichiwa?" he asked, but got no response in return. That was as previously predicted though. It was pretty obvious that he was the only one here; the only one in Seireitei. But why? Is it possible that they went to the Real World?

"Tei zousanai, Katukai!" A long, thin vine wrapped its way through the cracks along the wall and branched out to where Hitsugaya was standing. He eyed it cautiously, hand on the handle of Hyorinmaru.

"Who's there?" he asked, unsheathing his zanpakuto. The vine was growing thicker and sprouting thinner vines while he waited for its wielder to appear. But he couldn't wait any longer. He raised his sword high above his head, getting ready to bring it down on the vine.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice said from up in the rafters. A slender woman, black hair tied back in short braids leapt down, landing silently on the wooden floor. "Katukai released a toxin fumes when cut. They'd kill you in seconds." Her kimono was unmistakable; black with a white belt; a Soul Reaper.

Hitsugaya lowered his sword, not taking her word lightly, no matter how much he knew he couldn't trust it."Who are you? What squad are you from?"

She chuckled, flipping her hair back. "I'm not in any squad, at least not from your time."

What the hell was she talking about?

"My-time?" he asked, still holding his zanpakuto tightly. He glared at her warily. He didn't like the look she was giving him. It was way too much like Matsumoto's when she skipped out on her daily paperwork and tried to make up an excuse for it.

"Well of course. You can't hardly expect to believe that I'm from this century, can you? That's just pathetic… Speaking of which, Hyouga failed to mention how short people from this time are. I'm glad there must have been some kind of height increase between now and my time," she replied, replying to Hitsugaya.

His brow furrowed, eyes staring heatedly at her own.

"Haha, so you can't stand insults to your height, huh? Interesting," she mused, the vine she called out earlier winding its way around her forearm. She relaxed against the wall opposite Hitsugaya, bringing her knee up to her chest.

"Don't underestimate me! You never know when I might attack," Hitsugaya said, watching her laid back stance with surprise.

But she only smiled. "You won't attack me. At least not until you know exactly if I'm a threat or not." He knew she was right and glanced exasperated away.

"So are you a threat?" he inquired, folding his arms over his chest stubbornly.

At that, she grinned widely.


	3. Chapter 3

"Miyoko Yuri, huh?"

"That's right, and you're Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the 10th squad," Miyoko stated matter of factly.

"How did-"Hitsugaya began.

"It doesn't matter. But what does matter is the fact that you have yet to realize how grave the situation is. You have no idea what's going on right now, do you?" she asked him, rolling her sharp blue eyes. A slight breeze made her braids flutter.

"My situation? You mean the way everyone is gone?"

"Of course, well, that's part of it. But there's much more to that story than it appears. It's my job to get you to understand the rest. I don't know why though, cause Hedeki was the one who actually wanted to go. It's so stupid that Yamato chose me instead," she complained, lost in thought.

Who was she talking about? Those names were unfamiliar to Hitsugaya; not from any squad here in Seireitei. Besides, how did she know all about this?

"So why exactly are you here then? If you have something to do, let's go do it. I'm tired of just standing here, listening to you ramble," he announced, moving from his more relaxed pose to a fighting one.

"Calmente, Toshiro. We have all the time in the world. I'm here to help ya know."

"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you," he muttered, glaring at the ceiling.

"Yeah, sure, but anyway, is there any food in this pigsty. I'm just about dyin' here," she replied as her stomach growled.

"Food?" Hitsugaya asked, surprised. Here she was, an intruder in Soul Society, and now she was looking for food?

"Yeah, you know the stuff you eat to get energy from. Or do people from this time not eat? Wow, that must be weird…" she trailed off, a quirky smile appearing on her face.

He scowled, "Of course we have food. But I don't think a person in your position should be asking for such a thi- Wha! Nani?!" Miyoko was suddenly standing behind him, her vine wrapped tightly around his zanpakuto which lay in her hands. "How…" he stuttered.

Miyoko chuckled, "Like I said, I'm here to help, so don't go getting all pushy on me now." She let him go, directing her vine to give him back his sword. He snatched it and sheathed it, mumbling philippics under his breath. "So, where's the food?"


	4. Chapter 4

An hour and three helpings of sashimi later, Hitsugaya was still waiting for the answer to his previous question. Why was she here? Miyoko was busy scraping the last bits of food from the bottom of the basket with a pair of chopsticks, her braids hanging down in front of her face. He sighed. This had been a long day. The sun was start to sink in the west and the light blinded him through the open window. He put up an arm to block it, and glanced over at Miyoko. Now she was leaning back against the wall, eyes closed. He had tried rushing her, but yet again, she had replied that they had all the time in the world. How was that possible? His squad, as well as all of the others, were missing, and he still had no idea where they were. Hitsugaya's brow furrowed as he reached the brink of his patience.

"Miyoko-," he started, but she raised a finger to her lips, indicating silence. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't speak. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at him.

"Isn't it quiet?" she asked, bright eyes twinkling. He looked away.

"Yeah, and it isn't supposed to be either. If you'd kindly just tell me what you're doing here so I can go and-," he began again.

"And what? Captain Hitsugaya saves the day?" she said sarcastically, chuckling. "Just relax. Don't make me tell you again about time…"

"Fine, whenever you're ready, I'll be outside," he said angrily, getting up from his crouched position on the floor and leaving through the right sliding door.

Outside the air was cool and he was again left alone with his thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

"Toushiro!"

Hitsugaya was standing in the light of the newly risen moon, his shadow stretching across the small field in front of the corridor of squad 10's building. His hair stood up straight and still, the wind had stopped and the air was stagnant. It seemed a lot like his first night as captain…

The air had been calm, just like now, the night, about 75 years ago. Hitsugaya's new squad had received notice of an approaching Hollow in the Eastern region of Soul Society and were dispatched to the area to take care of it. He was accompanied by his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, whom he had just met a few hours before. Noticing the size and ability of the Hollow, they split up to take it down from different sides, however, and had hoped it wouldn't notice. Something must have tipped it off, because when Hitsugaya had entered the clearing with Hyorinmaru released and prepared, he discovered Rangiku in its grasp, defenseless and undoubtedly unconscious. Not having paused to mull over what had happened, Hitsugaya jumped into action, just to be struck down by something. What was it? He had gone flying to the ground, Hyorinmaru returning to the zanpakuto's "sealed form". Someone who must have saved Rangiku while he lay dazed in the dirt. That someone's voice rang out… "….. Katukai!"

"Toushiro! Where'd you go, you silly little- Oh, there you are!"

Miyoko's voice snapped Hitsugaya back to reality. Miyoko's voice!

"You!" he cried. "You were there that night, when Matsumoto was captured."

She smiled slyly, "So you've finally realized? Gee, it took you long enough. I thought you'd never figure it out. I decided to wait until it was the same time that it had been that night to see if that would ring a bell."

Hitsugaya's eyes grew wide. She was the one who'd saved Matsumoto. The one who'd knocked him out of the way when the Hollow almost used Cero on him. He owed his life to her. But, that was 75 years ago. Even he'd grown a little since then. Why was she still the same?

"I see, I've got a lot of explaining to do," she said, leaning against the wall.

Hitsugaya smirked, "Damn straight."


	6. Chapter 6

"So you're saying that you're from _future_?"

"That's right. You believe me?" Miyoko asked, her eyes intent on his own, waiting for the answer.

"Of course I believe that. About as much as I believe in flying pigs and the tooth fairy!" he replied angrily. He wanted a straight answer. Not some crap about time travel. Why wouldn't she just get to the point?

She sighed, "I had a feeling you'd say that. So I guess you'll need proof. Watch this!" she exclaimed. Kouin Hensen, Katukai!" Her zanpakuto morphed into its released form, the thick green vine from before. Then it wound its way around and around Miyoko's body, covering her from head to toe until only her face was able to be seen. Hitsugaya watched carefully. He was ready to come to her aid if something was going wrong and her zanpakuto had decided to kill its wielder. She saw his worry and only smiled. "Watch."

He couldn't believe it. The next second she was gone. But that wasn't what had caught his attention. Scattered all around him, hanging from every rooftop and doorway in sight, were tiny origami cranes, all different colors. From the brightest yellow to the darkest blue, they sparkled and shined in the moonlight, lighting up Hitsugaya's white hair.

"There has to be hundreds of cranes here…" he mumbled, still in shock. "Actually, there's exactly one thousand, but you were close." Miyoko retorted, standing behind him. He whirled around and she winked, leaving the one eye closed. He bit his lip. This was impossible. How did she do that so quickly, and without him noticing she had even moved?

"How-," he began, but she shushed him.

"Now do you believe me?" she asked, staring up at the sky. Her braids were loose and she pulled on them until her glistening black hair fell down around her shoulders. It was actually much longer than it had appeared. She smiled when she noticed him watching her, and Hitsugaya's eyes grew wide, and he quickly looked away. He turned his gaze back to the cranes. It must be some type of illusion. His fingers reached out and touched one of the lower cranes that he could reach. It was smooth, slippery, and undeniably _real_.


	7. Chapter 7

"Seken Rosuto Kontan, or the World of Lost Undead Souls. That's where they should be," Miyoko said, watching him admire the cranes.

"So what are we waiting for. Let's go get them," Hitsugaya replied, turning back to Miyoko.

She laughed, "You make it seem so simple! Trust me, it's easier said than done. We'll be risking the space time continuum and putting the whole future generation at risk. I personally wouldn't even be on this mission if it wasn't for Yamato. He insisted we help."

This caught Toushiro's attention. "You mentioned that name before. Who is it?"

"_He_, is my captain. Captain of the first squad 158 years from now. But there is a major difference between our times. Essentially, there is only one squad where I come from; us. That is why I'm here; to stop the end of the shinigami in the future. Once our time is up and we are once again returned to the real world, there won't be anyone to fend off the Hollows. We spend every single second of our time trying to protect souls and help them cross over, so there's no time to try and train new shinigami."

"So let me get this straight. You're helping me because you're trying to change the future?" Hitsugaya asked, skeptical. He still wasn't completely convinced that she was telling the truth, but for the moment there was nothing he could do but accept it. Especially since she was going to help him find the other shinigami, in the "_World of Lost Undead Souls__"_, or whatever it was…

"Yeah, my captain thinks that if we change the fact that all the shinigami went missing, then we won't have to worry about our own extinction later on," she explained. "Now are we gonna go or just sit here talking about it?"

"I've been ready to go for hours. You're the one who insisted on wasting time," he replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Geez this girl changed her mind quick. It was kind of annoying him.

She laughed, "I suppose you're right, but I wanted to see if you could recognize me first, before we left." Then she unsheathed her zanpakuto, its emerald hilt glittering in the light of the moon. It looked like a disco ball from the little spots of light it cast on the walls. "Hold on to Katukai's blade as it transforms, alright? It's the only way you can travel with me." Hitsugaya cautiously obliged and waited quietly. Miyoko had a look of strenuous concentration on her face and he was hesitant on interrupting her. It was silent for a few moments, but then a small grin started to appear. "Well that worked out quicker than normal. Thanks Toushiro."

"Captain Hitsugaya, and what do you mean?" he corrected her. She chuckled.

"It seems that your high level of reiatsu was easily detected by Katukai. That made it a heck of a lot easier to connect with Seken Rosuto Kontan."

"What?! You used my reiatsu?!" he exclaimed, throwing her an angry glare. She smiled widely in return.

"I had to or else we wouldn't be able to transport through time. It takes a great more deal of energy to take two people than just one, so I thought that you should help carry your own weight and not just freeload."

Hitsugaya scowled but didn't reply.

"Ready?" she asked excitedly. Her zanpakuto transformed into the vine and wrapped itself around her. Then it reached out and bound itself to Hitsugaya's arms. "Let's go save the future of the shinigami." And then they were gone.


	8. Chapter 8

He was squeezing through a tube. It was quite a queer sensation. For a couple of frightening seconds, he couldn't breathe, and almost lost hold of the vine. It was pitch black and his eyes burned, similar to when they're in front of a blowing fan. But he couldn't feel the rush of air. It was completely and entirely calm. The only thing that crossed his mind was the fact that Kurosaki was gonna blow the roof when he found out that he had time traveled first. That was the only thing that there was enough time to think about, before a blinding white light reached his dilated eyes, causing temporary blindness.

As Hitsugaya waited for his eyes to adjust, his vision began to clear. They were standing on a glittering silver walkway. It shined almost as intensly as the sun, and it was a pain to look at. He adverted his eyes to meet Miyoko's. She grinned.

"It worked! We made it," she announced happily, jumping up and down. It took him a few seconds to realize that what they were standing on was see-through. He felt his knees get weak and he got a sudden rush of nausea.

"This, this is see-through?!" he said, getting down on one knee and closing his eyes. Miyoko watched humorously as he took deep breathes.

"Don't like heights?" she chuckled, making the walkway sway.

"STOP!" he shrieked, unsheathing his zanpakuto. Her eyes grew wide.

"Okay, okay, geez. Get a grip," she replied, backing away warily. Hitsugaya glared at her and sheathed his sword. He stood up slowly and closed his eyes.

"Alright, so where are we going? And can we get off of this bridge?" he asked.

"We need to get to the headquarters of the Shinteki. That's most likely where your friends are being held. We should get there before this boardwalk is swept though, or we'll be falling to our deaths. In this world, you have to be extremely careful. If you hadn't noticed already, we _are _upside-down."

Hitsugaya frowned, taking a closer look at his surroundings. She was right. The walkway they were on was suspended in midair by what looked like a pink reiatsu. Below them, was a dark blue sky, full of dotty white clouds and far above them, a mountainous region, with scattered buildings throughout. It made him instantly dizzy, so he decided to focus on Miyoko again instead.

"So where is that then?" he asked, anxious to get off this bridge.

"Hmm, well I've never been here before, so I'm not entirely sure, but we have to follow the mountains along a trail. It should take us there if Yamato gave me the correct information. Here, you'll need this," Miyoko explained, throwing a pair of spongy goggles towards him. He caught them and slipped it over his eyes.

She giggled. "They look adorable on you!" His eyes narrowed.

"Can we just get this over with?"

Miyoko frowned but didn't reply. She strapped her own goggled on.

"So why do we need these anyway?" he asked.

"Let's just put it this way. If we weren't wearing them, the moment we walked off of this pathway, we would fall down into the sky. That is the direction the gravity pulls here." Then she jumped off, rocketing upwards towards. Hitsugaya watched her, and cautiously approached the edge. He hated heights; one of his only major weaknesses. Taking one last deep breath, he slid over the edge, expecting to fall, but instead flying after Miyoko at an astonishing speed. Hitsugaya's stomach did loop-de-loops and he was reminded of the time that Matsumoto dragged him to one of the human's "amusement parks". He had been forced to ride every ride and was surprised to find that the "roller coasters" had created the same strange feeling that he had right now.

The mountains flew closer rapidly, and he came to a sudden realization; how do these things stop?! Hitsugaya reached up to feel the side of the goggles for any buttons, but to no avail.

"Miyo-," he tried to cry out, but the rushing wind took his words and blew them away before they were even out of his mouth. She was still far ahead of him, her black hair whipping around her head. Great. This was it. The child prodigy Hitsugaya was going to pathetically fall to his death because he didn't ask ahead of time how to stop the stupid things.

Up ahead, something large and colorful sprouted from the sides of Miyoko's goggles; a parachute. Hitsugaya once again checked for buttons, but there were none. He had no time to worry, however, for he was less than a hundred yards from the rocky ground. He closed his eyes. This is it he thought sadly. The end o Hitsugaya…


	9. Chapter 9

"Meep!" he yelled as he reached the ground. It took him a second to realize that he couldn't have just spoken if he was dead. He slowly opened his eyes to reveal that his small body was wrapped tightly, suspended off the ground, by Miyoko's long, thick vine. A big rush of relief hit him, and he sighed. Hysterical laughter broke the silence.

"Wow! You have no idea how funny you look when you're begging for your life!" she laughed, trying to catch her breath. Hitsugaya's eyes immediately narrowed and he opened his mouth to shout phyllipics, but shut it again. She _did_ save his life.

"Well, thanks, anyway. Now could you put me down?" he said instead, struggling against the vine's grasp. He could barely breath it was squeezing him so hard.

"Oh, haha, yeah of course," she replied, dropping him roughly to the ground, getting his white hair all tangled and dusty. "Haha, that was so worth the trouble."

He picked himself and brushed off the dirt. "What trouble? Don't tell me you had this planned?" Hitsugaya glared at the sheepish smile that appeared on Miyoko's face, once again reminding him of Matsumoto's. "MIYOKO!!!"

A few minutes later, the pair of shinigami were trudging up the first of the trails that were to lead them to their destination. Hitsugaya walked behind her, not trusting her enough to let her out of sight. She had refused to put her zanpakuto back into its released form, having her vine wrapped around her head like a desert traveler, which led him to believe that she was afraid of something. He kept his hand on the hilt of Hyorinmaru just in case. They kept going like this for some time, stopping every now and then for a brief rest. The world was so much different than Soul Society and the Real World. The fact that they were walking upside down was very confusing, and in order to keep from being dizzy, he averted his eyes to the trail before him. Miyoko however, didn't seem to be affected and was hopping up and down all over the place. She made sure to touch every flower and every tree they passed, feeling all of the weird new textures and smells. He sighed. She was like a little kid.

When the sun below them reached the bottom of one of the neighboring hills and started to set, the world grew three times as cold. Soon Miyoko had her vine wrapped around her entire body for excess warmth and Hitsugaya, who was used to and unaffected by the cold, worried about her. It must have been at least 5 degrees below zero.

"Are you sure you don't want to stop for the night? You'd probably be warmer that way?" he asked her, after a few more miles. She gave him a shaky smile and coldly stuttered, "No, no, really, I'm fine. I'm just worried about you." He scowled. He'd already told her it had no affect. Besides, he could see that the tips of her fingers were turning purple. A bad sign of frostbite.

"We're stopping," he announced, marching off the trail. He found a small rock formation guarded by a frozen river bank and sat down, motioning for her to follow him. Miyoko rolled her eyes and reluctantly came to him, setting her small bag of belongings next to her. This captured Hitsugaya's interest. He hadn't noticed that bag before. Had she been carrying it the entire time?

"Hey, Miyoko. Where'd that come from?"

She looked to where he was pointing and chuckled, rubbing her hands together for warmth. "I didn't think you noticed that and I was starting to wonder if you were that oblivious!" She smiled.

Hitsugaya scowled, "Just answer."

"When we first got here, I time traveled back to my time to pick up a few things. That's where I got the goggles from, you know," she replied, looking proud.

"Oh," was all he said in return, turning over onto his side to face the other way. The moon of this world was bizarre. Instead of the white back home, it was a crystal blue, and looked as fragile as a piece of glass. There were no markings on it at all, and it shined with almost the same intensity as the sun. He watched it move slowly across the upside-down sky beneath him and eventually he drifted off to sleep.


End file.
